Friday, July 22, 2011

Today's two part posting centers on two political figures named in honor of the famed Greek statesman and orator Demosthenes (384-322 B.C.) The first of these men is multi-term Texas state representative and senator Demosthenes Franklin Goss, who was born on April 25, 1855 in the county of Rockwall.

In 1883 Goss was admitted to the Texas bar and soon commenced practice in the town of Seymour. In the late 1880s, Goss was appointed to a vacant county judgeship in Baylor County, Texas and four years later was elected as a Democrat to the first of three terms in the Texas State Senate, representing his home county of Baylor. Goss' first senate term saw him introduce one important piece of legislation, authoring an amendment "making selection of the members of the Railroad Commission elective instead of appointive."

Goss was re-elected to that body in 1896 and 1900, with his final term concluding in 1904. During his last senate term, Goss was Dean of the Senate and chaired the Committee on Public Lands, and also was a member of the Committees on Constitutional Amendments, Educational Affairs, Judiciary No. 2, Mining and Irrigation, Privileges and Elections, Public Buildings and Grounds, Rules and Stock and Stock Raising. In addition to his legislative service, Goss was the Democratic candidate for Texas Land Commissioner in 1898.

After his tenure in the senate, D.F. Goss returned to his native Baylor County, where he died of pneumonia on May 11, 1925 at age 70. He was preceded in death by his wife Estelle, who had died in 1924. Both were subsequently interred in the Masonic Cemetery in Seymour, Baylor County, Texas.

The second profile here will be a short one, as information on today's "honoree" remains virtually non-existent! The man at the center of this little blurb is Demosthenes Cicero LeRoy, born on July 7, 1819. All that is known of him is that he served in the New York State Assembly in 1851, hailing from Onondaga county.

LeRoy served but one term in the state assembly, and died in the year of his service on December 20, 1851 at the age of 32. He was subsequently buried in the Maplewood Cemetery in the town of Camillus, New York.

The blurb shown above came from a work entitled the Civil List and constitutional history of the Colony and State of New York, published in 1884. Throughout this particular book were numerous instances of oddly named New York state senators and assemblymen, all of whom will eventually be profiled here.

You Can Help!

I am currently seeking more information (as well as a picture) of Demosthenes LeRoy, so if any readers/amateur historians want an interesting project to fill their time with, see what you can dig up on this oddly named New York state assemblyman!